Chapter 18 He let her push him onto the bed
Chen Chi clearly rejected Xiulian.
His attitude was polite and gentle, and his manners were impeccable, leaving no room for error.
The sun sets behind the western mountains, and the mountains seem to embrace the setting sun.
The day passed quietly, and it was time for Chen Chi and Chen Jiao to return home.
A horse-drawn carriage was waiting at the entrance of Caocun Village.
When Xiulian saw Chen Chi off into the carriage, her eyes were red, but there was no trace of resentment, and she didn't even glance at Liu Jiao.
Even someone as perceptive as Sang Ji couldn't see any flaws.
Sang Ji thought Liu Jiao had done a good job.
As long as Xiulian isn't completely corrupted, she won't cause any more trouble.
The grass village was a picturesque and secluded place, and in the eyes of Sang Ji, a veteran of many battles, it was unlikely to breed any major trouble.
*
Liu Jiao's life finally settled down.
However, his relationship with Sang Ji remained distant.
Although the two saw each other all the time and lived under the same roof, they never spoke to each other.
Sang Ji didn't look at her, and Liu Jiao also suppressed her impulse and didn't take the initiative to find him.
Half a month later, a rumor broke the peace.
Initially, a bunch of notes were mysteriously stuffed into the doorstep of Liu Jiao's house.
She didn't know what was written on it.
Because Liu Jiao is illiterate.
They assumed someone had accidentally left a letter in the wrong place and didn't pay any attention.
In the following days, Liu Jiao came to Xiaoxi to wash clothes.
As soon as she squatted down by the stream, she saw that the old women who had been chatting and laughing just moments before looked terrible. They gave her a strange look, then held hands and walked away from her, back to back.
Only then did Liu Jiao realize something was wrong.
Finally, after changing her clothes, when she went to fetch water:
Several elderly men she knew gave her a malicious look.
Whispering:
Although she was ugly, she had a good figure.
Liu Jiao felt very uncomfortable looking at him.
She was a bit of a dazed fool, and smashed the ten-pound solid wood bucket in her hand directly on the heads of these old men, without caring whether she knew them or not.
He will kill any god or Buddha who stands in his way.
We can deal with the future later; let's focus on rectifying the situation first.
Several old men who had been licking their chins and drooling were now suddenly hit hard, their eyes wide with anger as they rubbed their heads and grimaced in pain.
The oldest one pointed at her, his fingers trembling.
"You little wench, you just wait!"
Liu Jiao rolled her eyes: "Grandpa's hand isn't well, he needs to go get it treated."
"It's no use pointing at me, after all, Jiaojiao isn't in pain, only you are."
After saying that, she ran away.
From afar, one can still hear foul language:
"Given her ugliness, how could she manage to seduce both the young master of the Chen family and the young man staying at her house? This ugly village girl is two-timing me; I wonder what unspeakable methods she has."
"Tch, still pretending."
The elderly, weak, sick, and disabled men naturally couldn't keep up with Liu Jiao.
...
Liu Jiao knew she would face retaliation.
So, while the door was being pounded on loudly, Liu Jiao was already counting her secret stash of money in her bedroom.
She wanted to use her own money to make up for the consequences of her actions.
That's just how people are; once they get the money, everything's fine.
Mother bent down, secretly propped up the window, and peeked out the door—
Seeing the six burly men glaring at him, he gasped in fright, covering his mouth, his thin body trembling.
Father pondered a solution. He sat with his legs wide on a wooden chair in the hall, his thick eyebrows furrowed in frustration, and he gulped down a large bottle of wine.
The mother said urgently to Liu Jiao, who was holding the box and counting the money:
"They bullied you, didn't you tell your parents?"
"Why did you retaliate on your own? You have parents too!"
Liu Jiao only said that she was wrong.
But deep down, I don't think I'm wrong.
The next moment, after Dad downed a bottle of wine, his scolding voice rang out:
"Didn't I tell you not to cause trouble?"
Liu Jiao sighed silently.
She knew it.
If you don't fight back yourself, but instead tell your parents, you can turn a big problem into a small one and a small problem into nothing.
Let her suffer for the rest of her life.
She didn't want to make a trade of sacrificing herself for stability; it wasn't worth it.
"Excuse me, Father," Liu Jiao said obediently, "I wanted to ask how many people were outside?"
Her father ignored her.
Mother: "Six."
Liu Jiao divided the money she had saved over the years into six portions, wrapped them in cloth bags, and handed them to her father.
He was sent to deliver money to settle the matter, while he kept nothing for himself.
"Alright, learn your lesson." Dad took it and was about to open the door, putting on a kind expression.
Six burly men burst through the door.
Liu Jiao stood in the hall next to her father, her neck hunched, and could hear their imperious voices: "Your own daughter did something like this, and you won't even let me say anything?"
"Old Liu, you really need to educate your daughter properly."
Liu Jiao closed her eyes tightly.
She was bewildered; how could people be so shameless and distort the truth?
After thinking about it, she felt that she was probably being indulged.
Just as her father handed the money Liu Jiao had saved to settle the matter to the burly man at the head of the group—
A long sword, still unsheathed, pierced through the air.
He knocked the silver notes he was clutching tightly to the ground.
He winced in pain and glared at the person who had come.
The boy, dressed in black, completely ignored his anger and gave him no chance to retaliate, kicking him directly in the butt.
"Bang—"
The burly man at the head of the group collapsed to the ground, grieving deeply.
Seeing their brother being beaten, the remaining five burly men rushed forward.
then……
Thump thump thump thump.
After five rapid, loud bangs, the Liu family's hall fell silent.
Liu Jiao stared at the black-clad youth, speechless.
She stammered, "Sang Ji... thank you..."
Her voice grew softer and softer.
Sang Ji remained silent and did not reply to her.
She simply took the money notes from Liu Jiao's father, who was just as terrified as Liu Jiao.
Afterwards, he silently approached Liu Jiao and returned it to her.
When he came to her, Sang Ji bent down and glanced at her, his expression indifferent, but there was something in his phoenix eyes that Liu Jiao couldn't understand.
Afterwards, he did not linger, but calmly returned to the princess's bedroom and continued to wait silently.
After he left, the six burly men ran away in a panic.
Liu Jiao's father also wanted to educate her, to tell her not to be so extreme, and to teach her to make money peacefully.
Unexpectedly, the door was broken open again—
A group of burly men surrounded the entrance, including the six people from earlier.
The leader, now bruised and battered, gained even more confidence:
"This Liu family daughter from out of town is immoral and shameless, two-timing, and behaving improperly and vilely. She deserves to be drowned in a pig cage and displayed to the public!"
After saying that, the two burly men looked at each other and then strode forward, stretching out their thick arms, towards Liu Jiao.
Liu Jiao's father froze, instinctively stepping in front of Liu Jiao to shield her.
He was stunned, not by the imposing manner of the burly man, nor simply because they intended to drown Liu Jiao in a pig cage.
Rather, it is because:
He recognized all those faces.
Basically, all the men in Grass Village came.
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Among these people, there were those he had personally helped with farm work, those who had lent him money, and those he had helped move... At the very least, there were those for whom he had funded road repairs or helped them open livestock farms to become wealthy and benefit from his efforts.
Not one of them ever didn't smile at him or greet him warmly.
But now, just because they hurt people from their own village, they disregard past friendships and only unite against outsiders.
He wanted to kill the daughter he had desperately protected and to drown her in a pig cage without showing her any mercy.
If they treat him, the head of the family, like this... then how do they treat Jiaojiao, who is weak and alone?
Liu Jiao's father dared not think about it.
"Fellow villagers, let's talk this out! I'm willing to pay compensation..."
He tried to struggle, but underestimated the unity of the people of Grass Village.
The man from the grass village ignored him and threw him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
His strength was ultimately weak.
In the critical moment, it was Sang Ji who stepped in again.
Sang Ji was surrounded by a chilling aura, and his gaze toward the group of burly men was like that of someone looking down on a dead man.
"Brother... don't act rashly... I suspect he is..."
A shrewd-looking, slightly short man offered a tactful reminder.
"What are we afraid of! There are more of us!"
"That's right!"
"Kill this arrogant brat!"
The burly men, outnumbered and powerful, did not find Sang Ji frightening at all.
Soon, the voices of opposition demanding violence and punishment drowned out the shrewd man's insignificant words.
This boy in black is just a kid; what trouble can he cause?
The burly man at the head of the group smiled contemptuously and rolled up his sleeves.
He waved.
Then, apart from the shrewd man who hid behind the Liu family's gate, the other burly men swarmed forward as if there were no tomorrow.
"No, Sang Ji!" Liu Jiao instinctively worried about him, and disregarded her determination to go back to the cold, urgently stopping him.
But Sang Ji said nothing and simply threw himself into the battle.
Subsequently:
Thump thump thump—
Thump, thump thump thump...
A piece of fabric from the cuff floated lightly to the ground.
Grass Village was completely wiped out.
The ground was filled with groans and howls; not a single one of the burly men in the hall could straighten up.
Sang Ji simply straightened his slightly disheveled cuffs and didn't glance at the group of burly men from the grass village the entire time.
Only then did the shrewd man jog from behind the gate to the chaotic battlefield and whisper something to the burly man at the head of the group.
The fierce and resentful look in the eyes of the leading man changed instantly.
He glanced at Sang Ji in horror, then forced himself to his feet and yelled at the burly men from the grass village present to run: "Go, go, go!"
After leaving Sang Ji's sight, the burly men gathered together, still indignant and wanting to seek revenge.
The leader slapped the head of the loudest person hard and said angrily:
"You're kidding me! Do you even know who he is?"
"This person is Sang Ji, the one who single-handedly wiped out the enemy's elite troops and rescued the princess!!!"
The burly men looked at each other in bewilderment.
Holy crap!
The ball is dead.
The burly men either ran away or scattered, all abandoning their desire to avenge their own villagers.
*
“Tell me, who spread the rumor?”
Sang Ji grabbed the shrewd man by the neck.
He didn't let him go.
"You know what will happen if you lie to me."
His voice was cold and stern, and his calm words were sharp and piercing, causing one's heart to tremble for no reason.
"It was him! He said it!" The shrewd man said in a trembling voice, pointing to the back of a young man among the fleeing throng of burly men.
Upon closer inspection, the young man had delicate features, looking exactly like the beautiful Xiulian.
He is Xiulian's younger brother.
No need to guess, the person spreading the rumor was Xiulian.
"Get out." Sang Ji released the person.
He lowered his gaze and immediately took a step towards Xiulian's house.
His cuff was pulled by a force that was neither too strong nor too weak.
He glanced to the side and then looked down.
Suddenly, a girl with thick bangs appeared in his arms, standing very close to him. She stared at the horrific bruises on Sang Ji's arm with great concern.
It's Liu Jiao.
The injury was nothing to Sang Ji; he didn't even realize he was injured.
Liu Jiao burst into tears.
Sang Ji's wrist caught it just in time.
Scalding hot.
"Can't you take care of your own body?"
Liu Jiao cried uncontrollably, "I'll go put some medicine on you..."
When Sang Ji saw that she was crying, he stopped being aloof and his hand, which was about to push her away, froze in mid-air.
The seven-foot-tall man allowed Liu Jiao, who was half a head shorter than him, to drag him into his room and push him onto his bed.
A note from the author:
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